Jonah Jones

 

 Back

 Previous

Next

Jonah Jones
Jonah Jones (17 February 1919 – 29 November 2004) was born Leonard Jones in the north east of England, but known as a Welsh sculptor, writer and artist-craftsman. He worked in many media, but is especially remembered as a sculptor in stone, lettering-artist and calligrapher.

Life
The eldest of four children, Jones was born in 1919 near Wardley, Tyne and Wear. His father was a local man who had been a coalminer before being invalided in the First World War, his mother came from Yorkshire.

Registering in the Second World War as a conscientious objector, Jonah Jones was enlisted in the British Army as a non-combatant. He served in 224 Parachute Field Ambulance, within the 6th Airborne Division, taking part in the Ardennes campaign and the airdrop over the Rhine at Wesel in March 1945.

Following demobilisation in 1947, Jones' career began in a shared practice with the artist John Petts in North Wales, followed soon after by a short, intensive stay at the workshop of the late Eric Gill, where he learned the techniques of lettering and carving in stone.

During the 1950s Jones established a full-time workshop practice, one of the few who were able at that time in Wales to earn a living solely from art.

Art
Jonah Jones worked in many media. He cut letters in slate, carved in stone and produced bronze busts. He taught himself both the traditional techniques of stained and leaded glass and the newer ones of concrete glass. He painted in watercolour, a medium in which he produced a distinctive body of work based on vernacular calligraphy, a technique in which the artist and poet David Jones was a major influence. He also produced two published novels, a book of largely autobiographical essays, an illustrated book about the lakes of North Wales, and a biography of Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect of Portmeirion.

Jonah Jones's major public commissions include work for the chapels of Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire; Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire; and Loyola Hall, Rainhill, Merseyside; St Patrick's Catholic church, Newport, Monmouth; the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; Coleg Harlech, Gwynedd; and Mold Crown Court, Flintshire. His private work is marked by a preoccupation with Christian imagery and biblical themes (particularly that of Jacob), the Welsh mythological tales of the Mabinogion, the landscape of North Wales, and the Word.

He found time, too, to work in the field of art education, acting as external assessor to many colleges of art throughout the UK during the 1960s and 1970s, culminating in a four-year period as director of Dublin’s National College of Art and Design, 1974–1978, a period in which he was also a director of the Kilkenny Design Workshops.

His treatment of Welsh subject matter and working of Welsh-language texts were abiding themes throughout his half-century career in Wales.

Selected writings

  • A Tree May Fall, Bodley Head, 1980, ISBN 0370303202
  • The Lakes of North Wales, Whittet Books, 1983, ISBN 0905483545
  • Zorn, William Heinemann Ltd, 1987, ISBN 0434377341
  • The Gallipoli Diary, Seren Books/Poetry Wales Pr Ltd, 1989, ISBN 1854110101
  • Clough Williams-Ellis: Architect of Portmeirion, Seren Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1854112147


 

[Home] [Artists] [Arts & Crafts] [Buildings] [Entertainers] [Events] [Famous Welsh] [Food & Drink] [Journalists] [Musicians] [Places] [Politicians] [Products] [Songs] [Sport] [Symbols] [Writers] [Welsh Info] [Welsh Produce] [About Us] [Vox Pop] [Our Sponsors] [Contact Us] [Facebook Fans] [Welsh News] [Welsh Shop]

All copyrights acknowledged with thanks to Wikipedia. Another site by 3Cat Design 2006-2010
Whilst we try to give accurate information, we accept no liability for loss or incorrect information listed on this site or from material embedded
on this site from external sources such as YouTube.
If you do spot a mistake, please let us know. Email: [email protected]

 


Welsh News


Join us on Facebook


Follow us on Twitter

 

 

Key

Bold Red
Internal Link
Red
External Link

                 Admission Charges
                 Address
                 Arts/Galleries
                 Buses
                 B&B’s/Guest Houses
                 Campsites/Caravans
                 Castles
                 Credit Cards
                 Cricket
                 Disabled Facilities
                 Email
                 Farmers Markets
                 Fax
                 Film
                 Food
                 Football
                 Parks/Gardens
                 Golf
                 Historic Houses
                 Hotels
                 Libraries
                 Museums
                 Opening Hours
                 Places of Worship
                 Pubs/Bars
                 Rugby
                 Shops/Gifts
                 Taxis:
                 Telephone No.
                 Theatres
                 Tourist Information
                 Trains
                 Vets
                 Web Address
                 Welsh Produce
                 Youth Hostels
                 llustration(s) or photograph(s) viewable Illustration(s) or photograph(s)

 

Please help us to keep this site
running as a free resource